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David Settje, PhD

Professor of History

College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Settje teaches history courses, primarily in American history at Concordia, as well as interdisciplinary courses. His research interests and areas of expertise are among post-1945 U.S. history, diplomatic and American religious history, and women’s and gender studies.

His first book, Lutherans and the Longest War, examines the Cold and Vietnam wars. Dr. Settje’s second book, Faith and War, examines a cross section of Christian reactions to the Cold and Vietnam wars. He is currently writing a book about the Watergate scandal as a national moral crisis as well as collaborating on a book about Lutheran women’s history in the 20th century. Dr. Settje works with students in developing independent research and study projects. He has been a member of Concordia’s faculty since 2002.

Degrees

PhD, History, Kent State University; Kent, Ohio.

MA, History, Kent State University; Kent, Ohio.

BA, History and Theology, Valparaiso University; Valparaiso, Ind.

Academic and Professional Highlights

Publications:

“Faith and War: How Christians Debated the Cold and Vietnam Wars,”In Press at New York University Press.

“The Moral History of a Long National Nightmare: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Billy Graham and Christian America’s Ethical Struggle with Watergate,” currently researching.

“U.S. Christian Women Waging War and Advocating Peace: The Complex Relationship between Lutheran Women and Their Militarized Spiritual Beliefs since 1945” (with Morkert, M.), currently researching.

Lutherans and the Longest War: Adrift on a Sea of Doubt about the Cold and Vietnam Wars, 1964-1975, Lexington Books: Lanham, Md., 2007.

“Lutherans at War Over War,” Lutheran Forum 42, 18-20; Summer2008.

“Elections, Lutherans, and Ethics: The History of Church Involvement in Politics,” Journal of Lutheran Ethics 4, November 2004.

“A Historian’s View of Current Ethics: Vietnam and Iraq Compared,” Journal of Lutheran Ethics, August 2004.

“Justifiable War or an Offense to the Conscience? Lutheran Responses to the Vietnam War, 1964-1975,” Lutherans in America: A Twentieth Century Retrospective: Lutheran Historical Conference Essays and Reports 19, 20-47; 2000.

“U.S. Christian Women Waging War and Advocating Peace: The Complex Relationship between Christian Women and Their Militarized Spiritual Beliefs since 1945” (with Morkert, M.), Concordia University Chicago Faculty Research Seminar; River Forest, Ill., April 2009.

“U.S. Christian Women Waging War and Advocating Peace: The Complex Relationship between Christian Women and Their Militarized Spiritual Beliefs since 1945” (with Gardner-Morkert, M.), International Studies Association; New York, February 2009.

“Radical Action on a Conservative Campus: Creating a Women’s and Gender Studies Program at a Small Midwestern University” (with Gardner-Morkert, M.), National Women’s Studies Association; Cincinnati, Ohio, June 21, 2008.

“Saving the Vietnamese: U.S. Christian Imperialism during the Vietnam War,” American Historical Association; Washington, D.C., January 2008.

“U.S. Denominations and Vietnam: A Comparison of Foreign Policy Opinions from Lutheran Denominations, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the United Church of Christ” Conference on the Impact of Culture, Ethnicity, Race and Religion in the Vietnam War, The Vietnam Center; Lubbock, Texas, March 2007.

“Denominational Responses to the Vietnam War Compared: The Lutheran Churches and the United Church of Christ Debate Foreign Policy,” Concordia University Faculty Research Seminar; River Forest, Ill., February 2007.

“The United Church of Christ, Vietnam, and Radicalism Defined: How a Mainline Protestant Denomination Behaved Radically,” First North American Conference on Radicalism; East Lansing, Mich., January 2007.

“Analyzing History, Making it Fun,” Strategies for Effective Teaching of U.S. History Roundtable (Organizer), Organization of American Historians; Washington, D.C., April 2006.

“Crisis in the Government: Watergate, Christians, and 1970s America,” Concordia University Faculty Research Seminar; River Forest, Ill., January 2006.

Delivered and answered questions about Mary Todd’s paper, “Contesting the Faith: The Internal Struggle of American Lutheranism,” Holding on to the Faith: Confessional Christian Traditions in America Symposium; Wheaton, Ill., September 2005.

“Scandal Brings Them Together: How Watergate United American Protestantism,” American Society for Church History; Seattle, Wash., January 2005.

“A National Moral Crisis: Religious Periodicals and the Watergate Scandal,” Religion and the Culture of Print in America: Authors, Publishers, Readers, and More since 1876 Conference, The Center for Print Culture History in Modern American; Madison, Wis., September 2004.

“The Historian’s Role at a Critical Moment in Church History,” chair and moderator, Anglican-Lutheran Historical Conference; Chicago, June 2004.

“2003 History Curriculum Innovation: Small Colleges and Universities and Diversified Course Offerings,” Association of Lutheran College Faculties; Roanoke, Va., October 2003.

“Communists, Civil Rights, and Christians: Lutheran Racism and Activism in the 1960s,” Concordia University Faculty Research Forum; River Forest, Ill., February 2003.

“Justifiable War or an Offense to the Conscience? Lutheran Responses to the Vietnam War, 1964-1975,” The Lutheran Historical Conference; Milwaukee, Wis., October 2000.

“American Lutherans, the Cold War, and Vietnam,” The Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association; Albuquerque, N.M., February 2000.

“Lutherans in Dilemma: How the Lutheran Churches Reacted to the Cold War, Domestic Communist Issues, and the Vietnam War, 1964-1975,” Kent State University Phi Alpha Theta Speakers Series; Kent, Ohio, February 1999.

“A Protestant Crusade: The Fight Against Roosevelt’s 1940 Vatican Appointment,” FDR, the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church in America Conference, Marist College, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library; Hyde Park, N.Y., October 1998.

“Christianity Confronts 1960s U.S. Foreign Affairs: How the Christian Century and Christianity Today dealt with the Vietnam and Cold Wars,” The University of Kentucky’s 1997 Bluegrass Symposium; Lexington, Ky., March 1997.

“Vietnam, the Cold War, and Protestants: How the Christian Century and Christianity Today Reflected American Society in the 1960s,” American Journalism Historians Association; Ontario, Canada, October 1996.